rock stars

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 8/31/2015 at 10:38 AM, Rocky said:

Some big, fat claims in that brief paragraph. And not one of those claims has any factual basis.

Okay, we all might reasonably accept that more than 100k souls took the PLAF class. But "top 5 most dangerous religious cults?" Perhaps that was just snark. But in the context you set forth, I don't know how your "Satan was very concerned about us" is snarky.

"People actually got delivered from many things." Vague, subjective and without any reference point that can reasonably be taken seriously. There's more... but why bother. "let's deal with reality!?" Do you mean some obnoxiously unscripted television show? Because you didn't present any other kind of reality.

John, some of us did get delivered: from our money, and time.

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 9/6/2015 at 0:20 PM, Twinky said:

Another excellent post, Steve. Well put. :eusa_clap:/>

For those not interested in "multiple centres of reference" -

Proverbs 15:22 (ESV) (my emphasis):

²² Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

For anyone interested in wise counsel: Wise Counsel - from Open Bible

Twinky, aren't you an attorney??  If I wanted, "Wise Counsel", shouldn't I go to you??  I know, what a bad joke!!!

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 9/7/2015 at 7:46 AM, waysider said:

I never said anything even remotely similar to that. My comment was in reference to dispensationalism, a concept that Wierwille called administrations. It's a (non-Biblical) methodology that compartmentalizes sections of the Bible in order to absolve oneself from the mandates of other sections. I suggest you go back and read what I said more carefully.

Way, so that's what "dispensationalism" means??!! Thanks, now I understand what it means!! 

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 9/8/2015 at 6:11 PM, Steve Lortz said:

The more I have participated on this thread, johniam, the more I have come to appreciate what you wrote in your first post. It seems that you and I have some things over which we we can agree to disagree, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate you as my brother in Christ, and as the unique expression of God's love that you are. You fell in love with TWI and Wierwille. So did I. We just had different experiences coming out of our encounters with TWI.

God has recently flung me back into intimate contact with a religious community that I had to walk away from about five or six years before I ever heard of

TWI. That community formed in the late 1800s, but believed that there is only ONE church of God, and that creeds are man-made and divisive. This group never participated in the fundamentalist conferences, and so never ended up subscribing to the idea of literal inerrancy of the Bible. But the group was very much into music, and there are several nationally known gospel singers who came out of the tradition. It struck me that the mindset of this group was not handed down through the sermons that the ministers taught, or articles and books that the writers wrote, but through the lyrics of the songs the congregations sang.

I was reminded of that when I was reflecting on your first post that I just quoted. Many of us experienced the unconditional love of God in our local twigs. If that love didn't come from Wierwille and Power for Abundant Living, where DID it come from? I am inclined now to think that unconditional love was modeled to the people of TWI by the hippies Wierwille brought back from California. It seems that THEY might be the original "rock stars" of TWI...

What do the rest of you think?

Love,

Steve

Steve, I got involved in TWI in 1978.  My first Twig was so loving, and kind!!  But in August, the Twig broke up; some went into the Corps, others went WOW.  I had a few Twigs that were great, but many of them were terrible.